In the French Tradition

 

In fashionable households in 18th century France, it was common to see serving dishes made to appear like whatever they were meant to serve: asparagus soup in a tureen shaped like a bundle of asparagus; chicken casserole in a hen-shaped vessel.

Though the term used for these is trompe l'oeil, which means "fool the eye", these were unlikely to fool anyone (unlike the actual trompe l'oeil ceramics of, say Marilyn Levine or Paul Dresang.) The French vessels were more like visual jokes, all the funnier if the food within were completely different from what the exterior led one to believe. A sweet custard in a fish-shaped tureen? Hilarious! [Read more...]